West Platte junior Cohen Kite, above left, was one of three Blue Jays to score eight points against the No. 1 team in Class 2, Plattsburg, in the Blue Jays’ 78-50 loss on Feb. 10.
Since securing the No. 3 seed in the Class 2 District 15 Tournament, the West Platte boys’ basketball team (15-7) led early against the No. 1 team in the state, Plattsburg (24-0), but had a rough second half and lost 78-50 on Feb. 10.
The Tigers are not only the best team in Class 2 but are also the top-seed in the Blue Jays’ district, so there could potentially be another matchup between the KCI schools. It was a tale of two halves for West Platte which was in a competitive first half before getting outscored 42-17 in the final 16 minutes.
The Blue Jays jumped out to a 23-14 first quarter lead and the Tigers clawed back in the second quarter. Plattsburg went up 36-33 at the break before the second half got out of hand.
Charlie Kinslow led West Platte offensively with 18 points on four-of-seven shooting from downtown along with three rebounds and a steal. Cohen Kite was the only other Blue Jay to score in double figures, ending with 10 points.
This was the Blue Jays’ second straight loss as their 6-game winning streak was snapped by East Buchanan (15-7) on Feb. 7. West Platte trailed 16-13 after one quarter and headed into the locker room down 25-19 before ultimately losing, 49-44.
No Blue Jay surpassed double digits in the night, but Ezra Stigman, Miles McHenry and Kite all had eight points. Kinslow finished with seven points and five rebounds.
After winning the North Platte Tournament, West Platte pulled out a 67-62 win over South Holt (12-9) on Jan. 30 before beating Lathrop (12-10) in a double overtime thriller, 80-72, on Feb. 3. The victory gave the Blue Jays a win over the Mules for the second straight year after losing nine straight games in the series from 2016-2021.
Kinslow led the way for the Blue Jays, scoring 23 points with three triples and eight free throws, along with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. The Blue Jays made 10 shots from behind the arc, with Xavier Reynolds making four of them as the senior scored 14 points.
McHenry continued his strong play in the KCI Conference, ending with 13 points, five rebounds and one block. Stigman had 11 points and Drake Montez ended with 10 points.
After the 2-game losing skid against East Buchanan and Plattsburg, the Blue Jays move to 2-4 in KCI Conference play with their final game of the regular season being against North Platte (9-16) on Feb. 14. West Platte will enter the postseason with a first-round matchup with Braymer (14-10) – who the Blue Jays beat 62-32 in the North Platte Tournament – at Plattsburg High School on Feb. 20 at 8 p.m.